Hospitals Add 4,100 Jobs in May

Healthcare job growth slowed considerably in May as compared with April and March, but the sector was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise anemic job report Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Hospitals created 4,100 payroll additions in May, after posting 10,100 new jobs in April, and 10,200 new jobs in March. In 2011, hospitals have created 36,200 new jobs, compared with 11,800 new jobs in the first five months of 2010, BLS data and preliminary data show.

The healthcare sector – everything from hospitals to podiatrists' offices to kidney dialysis centers – created 17,400 new jobs in May, after posting 37,290 new jobs in April, 34,400 new jobs in March, and 124,400 new jobs in 2011. Healthcare created 95,100 new jobs in the first five months of 2010, BLS data and preliminary data show.

The healthcare sector accounted for slightly more than 14 million jobs in May, with more than 4.7 million jobs at hospitals, more than 6.1 million jobs in ambulatory services, and more than 2.3 million in physicians' offices, BLS preliminary data show.

Ambulatory services accounted for more than half of the new jobs created in the healthcare sector in 2011, with 10,100 new jobs in May, 21,500 new jobs in April, and 67,200 new jobs in so far this year. Ambulatory services created more than 69,600 new jobs in the first five months of 2010, BLS data and preliminary data show.